Recovery Inspiration

Our family suffered a terrible tragedy, the death of our son and Henry’s brother, David. David died of a drug overdose on 12/20/15. David was well into rehab at a very well regarded treatment center. By all accounts he was doing well. We had planned a visit to David two weeks after he died. Henry has been mourning the loss of his brother ever since. Only yesterday (10/27/16) Henry told me (his mother) about the following as we were driving home from school. He had never mentioned any of this until yesterday. The day after David died, Henry was understandably in search of meaning regarding losing David. He was browsing on Instagram and saw a post written by a young woman who was struggling with heroin addiction. Henry responded to her post with the following message, which he did not want me to share with others, but I can’t help…

I no longer drink alcohol. It’s something I need to explain, because it’s something I don’t fully understand. This is a relatively recent thing, I should add. I have been dry for sixteen months, after nearly 50 years of… not being dry. My earliest exposure to alcohol came in a religious context. At my parents’ Passover table one year – I must have been five or six – I discovered that the sweet wine used in the service produced a dizzying sensation that was at once both frightening and funny. After that, I looked forward to the sips and small cups that punctuated Sabbath and festival observance, and which, with the benefit of hindsight, served as the nursery slopes of (much) more copious drinking as an adult. In my first career, as a peripatetic double-bass player, alcohol was the sea in which we all swam. From my decade of small-time…

All across America, millions of people who once were imprisoned by their addictions, are now living healthy, free and productive lives in recovery. It’s time to share some of their stories. Watch Open Recovery featured in Facing Addiction's docu-series 'Out of the Shadows'. And read the full article which made front page of the Huffington Post.

Center for Open Recovery’s Drug Diversion Program is geared towards supporting participants to make positive behavioral and lifestyles changes through the reduction of and/or elimination of using alcohol and other drugs as a solution that actually causes unwelcomed and unintended problems. Instead of reaching for substances, we help clients identify other healthier choices that they can make to enhance their lives and empower themselves to live healthily and positively. Our Drug Diversion Programs consist of 12-24 weeks of group education and counseling sessions. Ryan K. recently participated in the three month Drug Diversion Program, completing the program in January 2016. He shared the unexpected benefits of his experience: “As I think back to being handcuffed and walking out of the courthouse, it was hard to see what could come out of it. I was arrested — a bag of cocaine fell out of my pocket at the Bay to Breakers…